TankTop
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1,871
Posts: 4,775
Location: On the couch...
Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Mar 27, 2016 22:57:03 GMT
I can't get my friend Julie's melt aways right. I have tried them numerous times with no luck.
Julie passed away from breast cancer and I know that stinker somehow is getting pleasure out of this.
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Post by hollymolly on Mar 27, 2016 23:06:23 GMT
My mom makes the best fried okra. Not breaded and deep fried, but pan fried in cornmeal and slightly burnt. I've been helping her make it since I was old enough to handle a knife. But I can't make it by myself. I don't know if I'm not letting the pan get hot enough or not cooking it long enough or not adding enough salt, or what the problem is. It's edible when I make it, but it's not remotely as good as Mom's. I eat hers like popcorn. I pick pieces out of the pan while it's cooking. I eat as much as I can get on my plate, and go back for seconds as many times as I can get away with. I'll eat it cold right out of the fridge. I'll eat the leftovers for days. When I make it, I have no problem with portion control, and I toss what's leftover.
I also suck at any kind of baked goods, and the only dessert I can make successfully is pumpkin pie from the recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin.
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Post by CarolinaGirl71 on Mar 27, 2016 23:07:19 GMT
Spongemom, I like kosher salt and lemon pepper on my green beans and like to sauté them. Yum. Oh, I can do sauteed beans or a green bean casserole. I just can't do old-fashioned boiled green beans and that's what my kids always wanted. "Why can't you make PLAIN green beans, mom?" So, I'd make them and then the consensus was they don't taste like grandma's. I made them exactly like she said, but they never tasted the same. Grandma's love, I guess. spongemom lisae I didn't think I could cook green beans either until I found this recipe. I used Paul Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing instead of non-creamy Caesar because I didn't find it at our grocery store. We loved it! www.littlemisscelebration.com/2013/02/28/quick-and-delicious-caesar-green-beans/
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mimima
Drama Llama
Stay Gold, Ponyboy
Posts: 5,019
Jun 25, 2014 19:25:50 GMT
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Post by mimima on Mar 27, 2016 23:08:07 GMT
Yogurt. If you want a smoothie addition, I am your gal, though
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Post by CarolinaGirl71 on Mar 27, 2016 23:10:01 GMT
I can't make rice to save my life. Uncle Ben's Converted Rice turns out perfect for me every time. Any other brand/kind of rice does not. So it's Uncle Ben's for us! Just follow the directions exactly as on the package.
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Post by CarolinaGirl71 on Mar 27, 2016 23:11:22 GMT
I can't make fried chicken. Ours comes from a local chain restaurant chain.
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Post by cmpeter on Mar 27, 2016 23:23:26 GMT
I have never tried boiled green beans.
I can make excellent bacon though. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the bacon (folded in half) on a jelly roll pan. Bake for 10 minutes and flip. Bake for 10 more minutes. Check and if you want it crisper, leave in for another couple minutes. Keep a close eye on it at this point until it's as crisp as you want it.
Folding the bacon lets you get the full pound on one jelly roll pan.
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Post by mollycoddle on Mar 27, 2016 23:29:03 GMT
Meatloaf. No matter what I do, it is bland.
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Julie W
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,209
Jun 27, 2014 22:11:06 GMT
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Post by Julie W on Mar 27, 2016 23:35:39 GMT
I can't make rice to save my life. Uncle Ben's Converted Rice turns out perfect for me every time. Any other brand/kind of rice does not. So it's Uncle Ben's for us! Just follow the directions exactly as on the package. I am a rice cooking failure as well. Then I discovered Trader Joe's microwave rice when a friend served it, and all is well in our house!
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Post by peanutterbutter on Mar 27, 2016 23:43:42 GMT
Rolled cookies. They always stick unless I use a ton of flour when rolling them out and then they are tough and taste like flour. Or they are too soft and don't hold their shape. I love them but just can't make them! Try rolling between two sheets of parchment paper. For me it is pie crust.I have finally done up with a reasonably decent one thanks to now using my food processor, but it's still not as good as it could be!
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Mar 27, 2016 23:47:24 GMT
I can't make rice to save my life. I used to be the same with rice but for some reason last year it has worked out. I make it a lot more often now, so maybe its just practice.
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Post by mollycoddle on Mar 27, 2016 23:53:34 GMT
I can't get my friend Julie's melt aways right. I have tried them numerous times with no luck. Julie passed away from breast cancer and I know that stinker somehow is getting pleasure out of this. What is a melt?
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Post by Katie on Mar 27, 2016 23:58:16 GMT
Banana Bread. I have tried at least a dozen different recipes, using brown bananas, ripe bananas, and/or frozen bananas. No matter what it is always a mess. It either comes out rock hard or gooey in the middle with a burned bottom. I have given up!
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Mar 28, 2016 1:33:30 GMT
I always cook enough pasta for an army, every single time. I can relate. I measure the recommended amount... add a little more for good measure... and then for some inexplicable reason, I practically double that amount before I'm done. Oh, well. And thanks CarolinaGirl71 for the green bean recipe -- that sounds interesting!
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Post by baslp on Mar 28, 2016 1:37:35 GMT
My banana bread always comes out dry.
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Post by Restless Spirit on Mar 28, 2016 1:47:53 GMT
The pasta thing is so true. LOL
Meatballs are my nemesis. I can.not.make.a.decent.meatball to save my life. (According to my DH). He likes restaurant style and just does not like my homemade ones. Personally, I am convinced that the restaurant meatballs have something odd like soy protein or some other "filler" in them that makes them an odd texture that's just not possible using grocery store ingredients. Oh well.
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Post by melanell on Mar 28, 2016 1:55:02 GMT
French toast. I am a french toast moron.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
Jun 26, 2014 0:29:24 GMT
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Mar 28, 2016 3:11:53 GMT
I can't make rice to save my life. I also have trouble with rice. I try to have DH make it, his turns out just the way I like it. If I have to make the rice myself, I always tell the rice that "DH is making you, so you will turn out just fine" and sometimes that helps. The last time I started some rice, I only put in half as much water as I should have, and DH pointed out that it didn't look right and asked how much I had used and discovered the problem.
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Jili
Pearl Clutcher
SLPea
Posts: 4,363
Jun 26, 2014 1:26:48 GMT
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Post by Jili on Mar 28, 2016 3:27:56 GMT
Rice! It's either a gloppy mess or totally crunchy. I've found directions for cooking both brown and white rice in the oven that have actually been successful for me! The brown rice technique is from Alton Brown. It takes time to do this, though, so I am not above using Trader Joe's frozen rice during the week.
One exception is Yvonne's Mexican Rice. I've made that on the stovetop several times. I've held my breath, but have done pretty well with it. If there was a way to do it in the oven, I'd be all over it. Maybe after the sauteeing part. Hmm. I'll have to think about this.
I'm also not great with recipes that are supposed to thicken. Mine often seem to end up no thicker than when I started.
I've made spaghetti sauce many different ways over the years. I like to experiment and try new recipes/techniques. They always taste good. However, no matter what I do, my kids always tell me that Grandma's sauce is much better. Asking for her recipe is no help because she can't even tell me. She just makes it. My mom is 100% Italian and I'm just 50%, so maybe there's something to that.
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
Jun 26, 2014 18:51:17 GMT
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Post by perumbula on Mar 28, 2016 3:29:33 GMT
Pie crust. It tastes great, and is super flaky, but it shrinks. Every time. I've been trying for years, and I've followed all sorts of recommendations for how to get a pie crust to not do that. It still does it, which is sad because I love a cream pie. About all I want pie crust for is a blind baked empty shell for the chocolate goodness. For those who are having trouble with biscuits, try ATK's recipe and use a food processor to blend the fat and flour. That's what I do and mine rise quite high and are fluffy and delicious.
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Post by Outspoken on Mar 28, 2016 3:55:53 GMT
I can "cook" pretty well - as evidenced by DH weight! However, I can't BAKE to save my life. So, we don't have desserts!!!
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TankTop
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1,871
Posts: 4,775
Location: On the couch...
Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Mar 28, 2016 10:18:51 GMT
I can't get my friend Julie's melt aways right. I have tried them numerous times with no luck. Julie passed away from breast cancer and I know that stinker somehow is getting pleasure out of this. What is a melt? They are these amazing little cookie. Little white fluffy fluffy pillows with a glaze icing on top. So yummy! She called them melt aways.
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Post by mandasue on Mar 28, 2016 13:03:52 GMT
Divinity - I don't even try anymore. I am also awful with biscuits. I can get most other things right.
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Rainbow
Pearl Clutcher
Where salt is in the air and sand is at my feet...
Posts: 4,103
Jun 26, 2014 5:57:41 GMT
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Post by Rainbow on Mar 28, 2016 13:33:09 GMT
I can't get the gravy to come out right either. I don't even try it anymore, lol.
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,612
Jun 25, 2014 19:55:12 GMT
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Mar 28, 2016 13:43:16 GMT
My white whale is pie crust from scratch. No matter how many times I make it or how many recipes I try, I can't get it right. I've given up.
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Post by ilikepink on Mar 28, 2016 13:45:21 GMT
Waffles. We had this running joke with the kids that waffle irons don't work in this house. Maybe the iron wasn't hot enough, but every time? My ODS once gave me a new waffle iron for Christmas; that didn't work either. I just gave up.
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,612
Jun 25, 2014 19:55:12 GMT
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Mar 28, 2016 13:45:56 GMT
Rolled cookies. They always stick unless I use a ton of flour when rolling them out and then they are tough and taste like flour. Or they are too soft and don't hold their shape. I love them but just can't make them! This used to be my issue. Now I tape two pieces of wax paper, at the top, to my table and put the dough between them to roll them out. They won't stick and I don't use a 5lb bag of flour rolling out cookies. I don't know where I picked up that tip but the first time I did it I almost cried tears of joy.
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Post by pierkiss on Mar 28, 2016 14:44:21 GMT
My mother in law makes these cinamon rolls every christmas and easter. My husband wanted me to start making them as well because he loves them so much that he wanted to share them with our kids. So I got the recipe. Let me tell you, it is the most goddamn complicated recipe ever! I tried for years to make those f-ing rolls on the major holidays and the dough just would not turn out correctly. It ruined the holidays because I would get so upset over the dough. After like 5 years I finally said enough, I can't make the fucking rolls. You make them if you want them so bad. He can't make them right either! So, we don't have easter and christmas rolls in our house.
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Post by susancinpa on Mar 28, 2016 15:26:39 GMT
Mine is alfredo sauce, it gets lumpy & the cheese lumps up and sticks to the bottom. No matter how much whisking, I can't get a nice creamy, smooth texture. I did once with one recipe, but then it had no flavor, so I tossed that recipe, too.
For those of you with trouble with gravy, I use corn starch instead of flour, no lumps. I just start with a teaspoon and keep stirring, very rarely do I need to add more. I only make about a cup of gravy since it's just MIL & me that eat it.
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Post by whopea on Mar 28, 2016 16:28:44 GMT
I can't get sauces right, especially hollandaise. They're either too thick, too runny or just blech. I don't know why!?!?!
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